Bowden honoured at Lord's for leadership in Sussex cricket

By Charles Randall

5 October 2016

David Bowden, president of the Sussex county club, was presented with the Lifetime Achiever award at the ECB's NatWest OSCA lunch at Lord's this week.

Bowden, a retired NHS manager and consultant, won his recognition ahead of Colin Dawson, of Blythe CC in Staffordshire, and the Durham Over-60 seam-bowler Andy Pryor, a Blagdon Park CC stalwart in the Northumberland Cricket League. Dawson won local acclaim for driving through plans for a £380,000 community hub development at Blythe's Cresswell Lane ground near Stoke.

Bowden's recognition stemmed from his charity work and his tireless commitment to Sussex club and county cricket as a former captain of Preston Nomads. He took on the duties of chairman of the Sussex Premier League, chairman of the Sussex Cricket Foundation and was elected for a second year as president of the Sussex County Cricket Club in 2016. He was presented with his OSCA award by the former England captain Mike Gatting.

The OSCA event, in its 14th year, was hosted by BBC cricket correspondent and Test Match Special commentator Jonathan Agnew, attended by more than 400 people from across England and Wales to celebrate the heroes of the recreational game.

A winner from London, for the NatWest CricketForce award, was Adam Wilson and Brondesbury CC. After a winter merger with Primrose Hill CC, he transformed the CricketForce weekend by bringing together members of both clubs, parents, juniors and local NatWest staff.

Amara Carr, from Plympton CC, received the Young Coach of the Year Award for her work inspiring young girls to take up the sport. The judges praised how, alongside multiple coaching roles at university, club, county and England Development level, she acted as a mentor for junior female players.

The Blagdon Park Young Bulls picked up the NatWest U19 T20 Club of the Year Award. The award reflects how a number of players took ownership of their team, including completing the U19 T20 Activators course and securing funding and sponsorship for the club. After the group games they continued to arranged friendlies and have reaped the rewards with players featuring regularly for their 2nd XI and Sunday side.

The Heartbeat of the Club award, in partnership with Hardys, produced an outstanding winner in Tim Chambers of Hemingford Park CC. His tireless work included duties as chairman, fixture secretary, umpire, groundsman, tea maker, junior lead coach, marketer, Under-9 coach, school liaison, financial controller, fundraiser and occasional senior player.

Matt Dwyer ECB’s director of participation and growth said: “The NatWest OSCAs are our way of highlighting and rewarding the contributions volunteers make to grassroots cricket. The sport relies on the incredible amount of work they put in at their clubs every year. Congratulations to all of our outstanding winners and I hope they have had a day they will never forget.”

Commenting on the awards, the England seamer Stuart Broad said: “Days like this are what it is all about – recognising the volunteers who do so much incredible work behind the scenes. They are the reason we all have cricket clubs to play at and enjoy. The game simply wouldn’t function without them.”

2016 NatWest OSCAs winners:

Outstanding Contribution to Coaching: Rob Arnold (Stony Stratford CC)

Coach of the Year: Greg Smith (Legbourne CC)

Young Coach of the Year: Amara Carr (Plympton CC)

The Outstanding Contribution to Disability Cricket: David Gavrilovic

Get the Game On: Mick Bott (Denby CC)

Heartbeat of the Club in partnership with Hardys: Tim Chambers (Hemingford Park CC)